The Bookwanders by Anna James

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  Tilly's mother disappeared almost ten years ago. Ten years later, Tilly starts to experience strange things. Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Wonderland have started appearing in her family's bookshop, Pages and Co. to make things even weirder, Tilly finds she has the ability to travel into Anne and Alice's stories. Tilly's new discovery is fun at first, but danger lurks at every turn...

This book was so much better than I thought it would be! I couldn't put it down. I wouldn't describe this book as gripping, but the plot certainly moved fast enough to keep me interested. The Bookwanders was so lighthearted and after recently dealing with all the politics in War Storm and Broken Throne, it was a nice break.

The plot was nothing new: an orphan who discovers a new world and that she has magical powers. I've read dozens of books like that before, but The Bookwanders had its own special twist on things. Everything that happened with Tilly's mom was a little predictable, but the villain had a nice plot twist. Although, I felt it was a little fast and too easy how they vanquished him. 

The Bookwanders relied heavily on the classic novels Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I can't say I'm familiar with the first two books, but Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an old favorite of mine. Anna James' interpretation of Alice just didn't feel right.

I loved the setting! Pages and Co. was such a cozy setting! Tilly's friend, Oskar, definitely deserved more character development. He had a lot of potential. As for Tilly, she was a little annoying and could be dumb at times. I really can't believe she didn't connect the dots sooner.

To elaborate on that last bit a little more, Tilly's grandparents had multiple instances when they were caught talking with book characters. First, Tilly's grandma was talking to a woman named "Lizzy." It only took me a little bit to figure out that this was Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice. Even more obvious, Tilly's grandfather was talking to a man who had one of those flap hats and was smoking a pipe. I instantly recognized him as Sherlock Holmes. Tilly also had (almost) no suspicion of the villain when he was the shadiest dude ever.

I don't know if this is just me, but the villain of this book reminded me so much of Micheal Yagoobian (otherwise known as Bowler Hat Guy) from Meet the Robinsons.

Page count: 288 pages

Published: September 18, 2018

Genre: fantasy

Series: Pages and Co. book 1

My rating: 3 stars

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